Improvement in corsets



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STEPHEN DIXON, OF NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN CORSETS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 135,097, dated January21, 1873.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, STEPHEN DIXON, of Nottingham, England, have inventedcertain Improvements in Corsets, &c., of which the following is aspecification:

The object of my invention is to provide themeans of imparting tocorsets or stays the desired elasticity or yielding permanence of formdesigned to sustain or improve the figure of the wearer, arigido-flexible support which is firm and enduring, while it is at thesame time ontirely free from unpleasant stiffness, hardness, orpressure, and whereby I am enabled to impart to the corset or stay anydesired shape or configuration without making it heavy or otherwiseuncomfortable, and also produce corsets or stays which will retain theiroriginal shape unimpaired, whatever position the wearer may assume.

I efl'ect this object by the application to the corset or stay of corkin the form of thin, fiat strips Ct, Figure l of the drawing, which is aperspective view of a corset, the said strips being inclosed in acovering of textile or other fabric, the cork and its covering beingunited by rows of stitching b 1), Figs. 2 and 5 of the drawing, andafterward placed in the corset; or the cork may be placed directlybetween the'two thicknesses of the corset in the same manner as thecommon whalebones, &e. The cork may also be applied in the form ofacontinuous thin sheet sewed between two thicknesses. The strips of corkare preferably of about one-sixteenth of an inch or one-eighth of aninch in thickness, or of such thickness as will give the desiredelasticity or elastic permanence to the corset.

The manner of arranging the cork in combination with the corset or staywill depend somewhat upon the peculiar shape or style of the article;but when the thin sheets or strips of cork, Figs. 3, 4, 6 and 7, areproperly applied and attached thereto, such stays or other articles willbe found both firm and comfortable to the wearer, and will in a Veryshort time be found to mold themselves perfectly to the form of theperson, which form they will retain permanently as long as the articleexists.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s-

As a new article of manufacture, a corset or stay having incorporatedwith it or attached to it thin strips, bands, or sheets of cork, for thepurpose and substantially in the manner described.

' STEPHEN DIXON.

Vitnesses;

W. J. Lowe, GEORGE HASELTINE.

